April is Volunteer Appreciation Month. At the Young Center, our work to advocate for unaccompanied and separated immigrant children wouldn't be possible without the contributions of hundreds of volunteers who serve as Child Advocates. In 2021, our volunteers donated 3,388 hours to the organization, saving us $95,636. But their impact goes beyond that.

Volunteer Child Advocates meet with children in government custody every week to make sure they are not alone, their voices and stories are heard, and they have someone in their corner to fight for their best interests. They listen to children. They make art, play games, and listen to music with children. They take children on virtual tours of the world and explore children's dreams and hopes with them. They elevate children's voices and concerns to Young Center attorneys and social workers and help us write compelling Best Interests Determinations (BIDS), to share our recommendations with federal agencies and other decision-makers in children's cases. Currently, we have 569 active volunteers! We're so grateful to each Young Center volunteer for all they do! Thank you!

If you are interested in becoming a Young Center volunteer, click here to learn more or sign up to attend one of the three virtual info sessions we're hosting in the coming weeks. 

The American Bar Association's Children's Rights Litigation Committee honors lawyers around the country who represent children through their Lawyer of the Month series. The Committee "celebrates work from advocacy that results in a system wide change to advocacy that improved the life of one child client." We are so proud that Young Center Executive Director Gladis Molina Alt has been selected as the Lawyer of the Month for April 2022! Click here to read the profile where Gladis shares some of her personal story and discusses our work to advocate for unaccompanied children facing deportation.

Title 42 is the policy used to deny people their legal and human right to seek protection at our border. Under this policy, 1.5 million people have been turned away. There have been 9,886 recorded reports of kidnapping, rape, torture, and other attacks against asylum-seekers and migrants returned to danger in Mexico under the Biden administration due to the Title 42 policy.

Earlier this month, the Biden administration announced that it will end this dangerous policy on May 23rd. Since then, there has been a concerted effort to extend this policy by lawmakers, including several Democrats. In addition, earlier this week, a federal court ordered the Biden administration to halt the wind down of Title 42 and unfortunately, the administration has agreed to comply.

You still have the chance to raise your voice and ask your Representatives and Senators to prevent any effort to extend Title 42. Click here to learn more and take action. 

Unaccompanied immigrant children are children. They are children who have been through a lot, but they are also children who will fall off the monkey bars and break a wrist, who get chicken pox or other childhood diseases, who need their eyesight and hearing checked. However, many states deny unaccompanied immigrant children who have been released to their families and sponsors access to Medicaid, leaving them to find resources for health care on their own. Click here to read a blog by Young Center Policy Analyst for Disability Rights Anne Kelsey discussing the need for universal access to Medicaid. 

Hoa Huynh and Sunny Yoon bonded over their cultural pride and in overindulging in Asian cuisines, all of which led to the birth of their e-commerce store WE ARE CHIMMI. Celebrating the power and resilience of immigrants, the brand, short for for "WE ARE CHILDREN OF IMMIGRANTS," donates a percentage of proceeds to the Young Center. Click here to read an interview with Hoa and Sunny about why supporting immigrant children is important to them.

At the Young Center, many of us are reading "Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America," written by award-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa who will be the featured speaker at our upcoming virtual benefit Reimagine. 

We are thrilled to announce that an adaptation for young adults of this memoir, slated for publication in August 2022, will be gifted to everyone who buys tickets for our benefit at the $250+ level as a thank you memento! Click here to get your ticket and join us on Wednesday, June 22, at 07:30pm ET.

What are you reading? Reply to this email with your book recommendations and we may add them to our webpage featuring recommended reads.

"As a proud daughter of immigrants, it is my privilege to momentarily partake in the lives of immigrant children and be inspired by their resilience."
-Young Center-Houston Volunteer Child Advocate Wendy Rodriguez